2-time Tri-Cities state champ commits to ‘on the rise’ NW wrestling program

Chiawana junior Isaiah Anderson has — hopefully — two years of high school wrestling remaining in his prep career.

We say hopefully, because we don’t know whether the state of Washington will allow high school wrestling to happen when practice is scheduled to start Dec. 28.

Because of its physicality, wrestling can only occur during the COVID pandemic until Phase 4.

But regardless, Anderson has his college path all figured out.

The two-time state champion verbally committed last Thursday to Oregon State University’s men’s wrestling program, meaning no matter what happens this school year, he knows he’s got a future In the sport. A sport he absolutely loves.

“I’ve grown up around it since I was a little kids,” he said. “It’s just you against someone else out there.”

The Beavers program appealed to Anderson because of its location in Northwest.

“It’s important to have my little nephews to watch me wrestle,” he said. “I want to be close to home.”

He believes the OSU program is on the rise.

“They got a new coaching staff there in March,” Anderson said. “Recruiting opened June 15 for my class. They’re building something special there. And I want to help build something in the Northwest.”

Anderson can now relax with his future set.

“I can be at peace with it,” he said. “I know what I’m doing the next five or six years of my life.”

Wrestling in his blood

Anderson grew up on a wrestling mat — “born and raised on a wrestling mat,” he says.

His father, Jack Anderson, Jr., has been Chiawana’s wrestling coach for years. His uncle, Jordan Anderson, was Kamiakin’s wrestling coach until 2019, when he decided to spend more time with his family.

“I love the idea in wrestling that you get what you put in, and you sit on a mat, shaking hands,” he said.

There is nowhere to hide. It’s just you against another wrestler.

“You’re going to war,” Anderson said. “It’s hand-to-hand combat. Basically, it’s beating the other guy up.”

Anderson has done a lot of that his first two years at Chiawana: two Class 4A state championships, including a perfect 31-0 record last season for the Riverhawks.

“There’s a certain point in the match, usually going into the third round,” said Anderson, “where you sense the other guy is about to break. That’s my favorite part, when the opponent gets to the point that they don’t want to wrestle you anymore.”

Besides wrestling, Anderson will will have two years remaining of Chiawana football. As a defensive lineman, he was named first-team, All-Mid-Columbia Conference last fall.

At 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, Anderson gave larger offensive lineman fits with his speed and agility. At times, Anderson wouldn’t even line up in a three- or four-point stance. Instead, he’d just start the play at a standing position.

“I had never really played defensive line before last season,” Anderson said. “I’m like the shortest guy out there, and I’d get really low in a three-point stance. Coach (Robert) Booth and Coach (Steve) Graff started joking with me that maybe I should just stand up.”

He tried it, and it worked.

“It was intimidating at first, with these guys bigger than me across the line,” said Anderson. “But then I kind of imagined that if this was a wrestling match, would I be intimidated of the guy across the line from me?”

The answer is no.

Golf

Kennewick’s Ken Wade had the highest finish of local golfers who competed at the Washington Golf Association’s Senior Men’s Amateur Championships, which was held Sept. 22-24 at Walla Walla Country Club.

Wade fired a three-round total of 9-over-par 225 (76-71-78) to place tied for 13th.

Bellevue’s Tom Brandes won the tournament with a 3-under-par 213, while former Seattle Mariners pitcher Erik Hanson (from Kirkland) was second at minute-1 215.

In the Washington Super Senior Amateur Championships, Mill Creek’s John McDonald finished first with a 7-over-par 223 (74-75-74), just one stroke ahead of local runnerup Bill Herron of College Place.

Herron finished at 224, with rounds of 70, 76 and 78.

Other Mid-Columbia golfers who fared well in the Super Seniors tournament were Walla Walla’s Jeff Thomas and Richland’s George Struthers, who both tied for third with 226 scores for 10-over-par.

Richland’s Chris Indall finished tied for 10th at 229, 13 over par.

College sports

• Eastern Oregon University is picked by the Cascade College Conference volleyball coaches to win the conference title.

EOU, which finished 31-5 last season, was the top team among the conference’s 12 in the preseason poll.

The Mountaineers have one Mid-Columbia athlete on their roster in junior Breanna Shaffer, a Kennewick High graduate.

EOU will open its season on Jan. 28 against Bushnell University, the former Northwest Christian University.

Filling out the top four in the poll are Southern Oregon University in second, Corban University in third, and College of Idaho at No. 4.

Masie Hancock, a Riverside High graduate in Boardman, Ore., is a junior transfer from Blue Mountain Community for the C of I.

• Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, was named the preseason favorite of the CCC for women’s basketball in the coaches poll released Tuesday.

The Warriors played in the Frontier Conference up until the end of last season, but they now become full members of the 12-team Cascade Collegiate Conference.

LCSC, which begins regular-season play, takes on Carroll College on Nov. 14 to open 2020-21 play.

The Warriors have two Mid-Columbia athletes on their roster in senior Jansen Edmiston (Hermiston) and sophomore Madeline Weaver (College Place).

The remaining teams among the top four in the poll are Bushnell University at No. 2, and Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon tied for third.

EOU has two area players on its roster in redshirt sophomore Maddy Juul (Hermiston) and junior Sailor Liefke (Sunnyside Christian/Walla Walla Community College).